Amusement device



March 1 1927.

J. R. ANDERSON AMUSEMENT DEVICE Filed Oct. 1, 1925 Patented Mar. 1, 192 7.

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pairs!) s'rar JOHN R. ANDERSON, or MOLINE, ILLINOIS.

" AMUSEMENT DEVICE.

Application filed October 1, 1925. Serial No. 59,757.

a teeter and also as a roundabout or merry-' go-round. Such devices have been built in thepast, as exemplified in the patent to Dickson No. 818,07 9, but it is to improve upon devices made in accordance with Dickson and otherpatents known to me that Iliave made the invention'forming the subject matter of this application. r

One feature of my invention resides in novel and improved means for supporting a board intermediate its ends upon a pivot in such a manner that the board may rotate about either a horizontal or vertical axis, and so that the horizontal axis shall be disposed a substantial distance above the top of the board. By this arrangement the lever arm measured from the fulcrum formed by the horizontal axis to the seat at the end of the board varies as the board oscillates about its axis. This results in a slowing up or retardationof the end of the board which is rising. This construction is designed to be an improvement over that shown in the patent to Morris No. 1,261,149, because of simplified and more durable construction.

Other objects of my invention are to provide a device'of the above character which may be cheaply and efficiently manufactured; which may be easily dissassembled so as to be moved from place to place; and which may be readily converted to other purposes. In the accompanying drawing in, which I have shown a selected embodiment of my in- I vention;

Fig. 1 is a side elevation thereof.

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, I have shown a stand having a plurality of legs lsecured together at their'upp'er ends to form a support for a post 2. While the post may be secured to the stand in any suitable manner, I have shown a pair of castings 3 and 4: having apertures. for receiving the legs 1 and having the lower reduced portion 5 of the post passing therethrough, this portion being threaded to receive the nut 6 to secure the parts together. tightened up it co-actswith the shoulder 7 on the post tosecurely clampthe legs 1 in position and also to hold the post rigidly upright.

The post is rounded at its upper end to form a bearing 8 upon which is supported a As the nutis yoke 9 having a. portion of its inner surface co-acting with the bearing 8 on the post. It will be seen that this yoke is U shaped, as viewed in Fig. 2 and that the legs of the U are of substantial length so that tipping of the yoke and consequently of the board in a transverse direction is prevented. 'The yoke is also triangular in form, as viewed in Fig. 1, that is in a direction at right angles to the U shaped section so as to permit rocking on the top of the post in that direction. Obviously also the yoke may rotate freely about a vertical axis.

The yoke is secured as by screws passing through flanges 10 to the top of the board 11, which is provided witha suitable slot 12, the ends 13 of which form a continuation of the inner surfaces 14 of the triangular shaped section of the yoke. In order to support and brace the yoke to better advantage,

I provide the brace 15, which may be in the form of a single length of wire and received 'within a recess 16 in the top of the yoke and which may have its ends bent so as to pass through the board and threaded to receive fastening means 17.

The board is provided adjacent its ends with suitable handles 18, which may be secured to the board in any suitable manner as by brackets 19 and it will be obvious that persons'seated on the ends of the board may grasp the handles 18 and then mayoperate the board in the usual manner as a seesaw or teeter, or may also cause the board to rotate about the vertical axis of the post in the manner of a inerry-go-round or roundabout. With an ordinary seesaw the person I sitting on-the rising end exerts a constantly decreasing leverage because of the fact that theend of the board 15 passing along the arc of a circle, and consequently the lever arm isbeing constantly decreased. However, by providing the fulcrum formed between the top of the post 8 and the corresponding bearing on the yoke,a substantial distance above the board, this tendency will be offset to a considerable extent and consequently there will be a tendency to niake the operation of the board more uniform. 7

From the above it will be apparent that I have provided a novel and improved.

amusement device which is rugged in' character and clieaply made, but which may be readily knocked down or set up for transportation from place to place. While I have shown the stand as assembled, it is obvious that the legs may be removed from the castings in which they are placed in case it is desired to reduce the space occupied by the device to a still further extent.

By placing the yoke on top of the board I obtain maximum height of the fulcrum with less material, and by en'iploying the truss rod 15 hearing on the apex of the yoke above the to ol the board the yoke is forced againstthe heard in ratio to the weightvon the ends of the board, instead of straining away from the same. Fiu'thern'lore, by this construction and arrangement of parts there less liability of the board ever becoming disengaged from its fulcrum.

I am aware that changes in the form, con struction and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the spirit and without sacrificing the advantages of the invention and I reserve the right to make all such changes as fairly fall within the scope of the following claims:

I claim:

1. An amusement device comprising a stand, a post on the same rounded at its up per end to provide a bearing, a board having a longitudinally disposed slot therein to receive the post which projects above the board, and a yoke upon the upper face of the said board, said yoke being U-shaped in cross section in one plane and triangular in cross section in a plane at right angles to the said first-nai'ned plane and in the direc tion of the length of the board,

An amusement device comprising a hoard, a yoke secured to the said board upon its upper surface and having a bearing extended through and tern'iinating above said board, and a brace extended in the direction of the length of the board and resting upon the apex of the yoke and having its ends se cured to said board upon opposite sides of the yoke.

JOHN R. ANDERSON. 

